Queen
by thegreatpl
Summary: Taylor gets Mental Out (aka Queen)'s powers from A Certain Scientific Railgun instead of her canon powers. (minus the telepathy). Pretty much a revenge fic for the first few chapters from Sophia's point of view. Warning: contains some pretty twisted characters. And mindrape. Lots and lots of Mindrape.
1. Pet 1-1

Queen's Pet

Sophia wanted to scream. To shout. To warn. To beg. But she could not. She could only sit their and listen to the meeting. Inside, she was screaming, desperate. Wanting help and feeling helpless. A massive change from just a few months ago.

Perhaps it was only fitting that she was like this. Or was that Her talking, in her head? Sophia couldn't tell any more. A prisoner in her own body, or near enough that it made no difference.

"...and if that is all, and no one has any further business, we can end this here" Aegis finished.

"I... have something" Sophia said, looking around at the rest of the Wards.

"Yes?" Aegis said, interested at Sophia speaking up for once.

"...is there any changes to the Master/Stranger protocols?" Sophia said.

Aegis sighed, and then said "No... they're annoying as it is, and we don't have any reason to suspect there is anyone in the city that requires us to go above and beyond the basics. Unless you have new information?"

Sophia felt her jaw clamp shut as she wanted to scream out to them _Yes! There is. Please... help me. She already got me_.

But she couldn't. Any time she tried to warn them, to beg for help, she couldn't get the words out. Instead, she shook her head in negation.

As the meeting broke up, she watched the rest of the Wards leave, her eyes resting on Gallant for a moment, whom she had worked out couldn't read her real emotions any more. Heading out from the PRT Headquarters down towards the Boardwalk. There, she entered a little teashop, heading to a table at the back surrounded by girls sitting and smiling.

Sophia wondered how many of those smiles were real, how many of them were brainwashed, and how many of them were outright fake; born out of fear.

She sat, and the person at the head of the table took a sip of her drink, then looked at her, a smile on her face. Sophia had figured out by now she could read emotional states as well, so she must be able to feel the hate poring off of Sophia. That, and the fear.

"I think perhaps it would be best if me and Sophia talked alone for a while" she said, adopting that upper class tone she seemed to prefer these days.

"Yes Queen" the rest of the girls murmured, standing and walking away. Sophia's eyes lingered on Emma, the red head who had sat at the left hand at the head of the table. Emma, who smiled at her former and now once again best friend as she left. Who could not even remember the year and a half of bullying she had put Queen through.

Lucky bitch.

"Hate me still, Sophia?" asked Queen, sitting there with her head tilted, twirling in her hands a remote control idly.

"Every moment of every day" growled Sophia now there was no one else to hear.

Queen laughed lightly. "Good. You can suffer every minute of every day for the rest of your miserable life for all I care" her playful tone turned dark "You took Emma from me, turned her against me. You threw me in that Locker. Drove me to isolation. Now, you can feel that isolation, that feeling of being all alone. Helpless"

Sophia closed her eyes. Wishing she could cry. But not here... later, when there was no one around. Then the tears would fall.

"Anyway, onto other matters. Please, how are the Wards? You said you had that meeting, how did it go?" Queen asked, again in the playful aristocratic tone she adopted for normal speech with Sophia.

Sophia opened her mouth, and began to explain what the meeting had been about. Betraying everything the PRT and Wards had told her. Well, she didn't care about them really, but to betray them to the girl before her. To queen.

That grated.

"Hmmm, so they still know nothing about me? Good. You know, when I found out you were Shadow Stalker, I was worried. So panicked. But now, with you under my thumb like this?" Queen grinned. An evil and cruel grin. Sophia seethed inside.

"Anyway, enough of business. I want to play at being a hero now" Queen said, pointing the remote at Sophia.

A spike of panic shot through Sophia "No... please..." was all she said, and then Queen pressed a single button on the remote, smiling faintly. And then Sophia's body was no longer hers.

She felt herself stand up, and looked one last time into the eyes of Queen. The eyes that had stars for iris. Stars which she knew now were formed in her own eyes. Then she walked out of the café and around the corner, into an alleyway, getting changed into Shadow Stalker.

She felt her body proceed to start to patrol the city in the growing twilight.

To keep herself sane, she went other her notes in her head. Trying to ignore what her body was doing. _Senses emotions. Can install compulsions in a persons head stopping or forcing them to do something. May or may not notice said compulsion. Can erase memories, though seems to be linked to compulsions. Can take direct control of someone, but seems to be limited in number. Can NOT actually read minds. Though with the ability to force you to tell her what you are thinking, makes no difference. Only goes by Queen now, and made almost everyone at school forget her real name._

Only the hope that one day, she would be able to report this and take down Queen kept her sane. That one day, all this would end.


	2. Pet 1-2

Shadow Stalker glided through the air from one roof top to the next. Sophia had done this all the time before, but now it just left a sick, defeated feeling in her stomach. Because it wasn't her.

She almost never did any actual hero work any more. Not Sophia. Shadow Stalker did, but when that happened, it was rarely Sophia. She figured that it was mainly that Queen got a kick out of it. Maybe being a hero while she was the stereotypical evil mastermind controlling everything from the shadows. Or maybe she just liked using Shadow Stalker's powers.

Sophia no longer even really thought of herself as Shadow Stalker anymore. Shadow Stalker was now property of Queen, not Sophia. Shadow Stalker was tough, beat up criminals, and was top of the food chain.

Sophia cried herself to sleep each night, then woke up in a sweat from the nightmares. Sophia feared each day. Sophia begged for release of any kind.

Shadow Stalker laughed as she beat up criminals, took them to jail, and enjoyed the sheer beauty of using her powers.

Sophia was the one who had sobbed an entire night away after finding her fingers freeze as she tried to put the live-wire noose around her neck, denied even that escape.

Sophia watched as they came towards a building, beside which Vista was waiting. She knew there was a patrol with her tonight.

"About time you got here. Dunno why we cannot just leave from the headquarters" Vista said, looking up at Shadow Stalker's mask.

"Had some things to take care of" replied Shadow Stalker. Sophia sobbed inside. No one had figured it out. Not after so many months. Maybe they never would. "Come on, lets get going."

"You know, you're a lot nicer these days" said Vista said with a smile, following Shadow Stalker on patrol.

Sophia felt a sick, horrified feeling stab her. They had noticed her change in behaviour. Yet they hadn't figured it out. Despair filled her. This hell never ended, would never end. She was starting to realize this.

She ignored the patrol as much as she could. Zoned it out. She had learned to over time. Instead, she desperately tried to run through her notes in her head.

And found she couldn't.

Horror welled through her. The notes were something she used to reassure herself, to give her hope. She felt her eyes focus on the text on Shadow Stalker's phone.

"Sorry, was that something important?" it read.

Sophia felt despair and defeat fill her. Mentally, she felt limp. Lifeless. Queen had taken her hope and crushed it. Left it for weeks, then she had made it so she couldn't remember anything.

The patrol was soon done, completed uneventfully, and Shadow Stalker soon headed off in the direction of her home, or rather Sophia's home. Vista headed off towards her own.

But then, Sophia felt her body move off in a different direction, and found herself helplessly walking into an abandoned house. Inside, she found a table with a teacloth over it, a teapot, and Queen sitting calmly sipping from a teacup and idly watching Sophia. A pair of the random girls from school standing behind her smiling, though those smiles were probably fake. They were both commonly used as flunkies by Queen.

Shadow Stalker took off her mask, and then Sophia collapsed to the ground and her knees. Tears running down her face at last. Free, for now. Everyone here knew, so she could act like she felt like.

"Well, that was a boring patrol" Queen said.

Sophia merely shivered, and kept quiet apart from her sobbing.

"What was that you thought of every time you needed a pick up anyway" Queen said, sipping again.

"List of things I remembered about you to tell the Protectorate" Sophia said quietly. Keeping quiet wouldn't work; she would just force her to tell her. Before, Sophia would have kept quiet to make her do just that. But now...

Queen's peal of laughter echoed around the empty room. Sophia merely closed her eyes, feeling the tears increase as they rolled down her face.

"Do you honestly think that I'd ever let you tell them anything if you were caught out?" Queen asked her. Sophia looked up into her face. "Or rather, do you think I left it so you _could_?"

_The compulsions _thought Sophia.

"Please..." Sophia said quietly, but didn't say more. She wasn't sure what to beg for anymore. Forgiveness? Freedom? Release? Death?

"Please what?" Queen asked, a smile on her face as she twirled one of her many remotes around in her hands. They didn't do anything really, other than either for show, or focus. Sophia was not sure which.

Sophia just let her head hang, tears falling from her eyes.

"What? Nothing? Has the great Sophia Hess finally broken?" Queen asked, an eyebrow raised.

Sophia allowed herself to nod. Head still hanging. Kneeling on the ground before the tea table.

Queen laughed again, and then smiled. Sophia knew this smile. It was the smile before Queen did something evil. Then she pressed a button on the remote, pointing it at Sophia.

And Sophia remembered. This was not the first time she had broken. And each time, the knowledge she had broken and how had been erased. Or rather, blocked. No memories were forgotten in this case. Not really. Just the realization of her breaking had vanished. In hindsight, the attempted suicides should have clued her in. Fifteen times she had broken to the point of just becoming a puppet, and each time, she had been reset to a point of resistance in the past. The last time, when they got to this point, she had begged to be wiped entirely. Everything. Leave her a mindless puppet, going through actions by rote.

Queen had liked that one. She had spent a good five minutes laughing.

She stared in horror at Queen before her, who smirked at her, knowingly.

"Please... not again..." she begged.

"Oh, and why not?" Queen asked, head tilted to one side in query.

"Because... because then I'll know. Know I'm your puppet. That there is nothing I can do. And you'll feel it. Every moment I'm around you. And I'd know there was something you could do to make it worse; put me through it all again" Sophia sobbed.

"Hmmm, you make a good point. After all, you are breaking quicker now after all... yes, I think I'll stop" Queen replied, relishing the sudden slight spike of hope in Sophia's emotions before she suppressed it. "Next time or the time after" Queen finished.

Sophia's face fell, and horror filled her. Then acceptance, as she bowed her head before Queen lifted her remote and pressed a button.

Then Sophia was looking at her. A little more of old fire back in her. A little more of the resistance. A little more of the hope.

But not too much. After all, it was more fun to keep her at the level where she mostly felt despair and horror. A few steps away from breaking. Close, but not quite.

"That will be all" she said, in an imperial manner, dismissing Sophia.

Sophia stood up, and changed into civilian clothes, then left, leaving Queen behind.

When she got home, she went straight to bed. Sobbing herself quietly to sleep.

Quietly, so her family didn't find out how depressed she was.


	3. Pet 1-3

Okay, since this one got me banned for a few days on Spacebattles, where I initially started posting this story. I think this chapter warrants some author notes. First, this happens when Taylor is 16, and since Sophia's birthday was never canonically given, she can be 16 as well. Over large parts of the world, 16 is the age of consent. 2nd, no matter how the relationship sounds, it is not sexual in any way. Twisted, yes. But not Sexual.

Also, I don't blame them for banning me. I was a little too close to the line their rules define with this. Let my darkside have a little too much control on this when I was writing it.

* * *

Pet tried to pay attention to what Mr G was saying at the front of the class, but it was stuff she had learned beforehand. It bored her. She wished she could be with Mistress Queen instead, but Pet didn't know which class the Mistress was in.

Mr G assigned group work, and Pet ended up in a group with three others. She tried to pay attention and participate, but these days didn't have much drive to do so. She only really lit up around Mistress Queen.

"Sophia? Do you have a pen I can borrow?" asked a stick thin girl next to her.

It took Pet a moment to remember that Sophia referred to her, before she smiled and handed over one of her spares.

"Thanks" said the girl, and Pet felt a slight rush of pleasure. Not as much as it would have been had it come from Mistress, but some still. What was her name? Tessa? No, Taylor. Pet did not notice the stars in Taylor's eyes.

Pet happily contributed when she was asked, but did not volunteer anything. She only reacted.

The bell then rang for lunch, and Pet eagerly left. She would see Mistress Queen, as she did every lunch time. Pet lived to serve Mistress Queen.

At the lunch hall, she eagerly looked towards the table which Mistress Queen held court on each day. Everyone knew it was the Mistress's. Already, some of her court had arrived, as well as a number of Mistress's friends and servants. But Mistress was not there yet herself.

Pet instead headed to the lunch line, buying her lunch, and then headed towards the table. Her heart skipped a beat as she court sight of Mistress Queen, sitting at the head of the table.

Emma sat to her left, and Melissa to the right. Both of them were pretty much permanent members of Mistress Queens court. Melissa had been with them only a month though. She had always been in the background before, never caring about the popular girls. It had only been when Mistress Queen had discovered her secret that she had been invited to the court. Now she was happier, smiling as she talked to the Asian girl next to her despite the Empire 88 colours she wore.

Pet suppressed the urge for her to go eat her food on the floor next to Mistress Queen. They were in public, and Mistress had said not to do that in public. Queen smiled at Pet, and Pet felt a shiver of pleasure rush down her spine. Mistress Queen then indicated a chair left empty, next to Emma.

Pet sat down and began to eat, listening to every word Mistress Queen gave out. She was cute today, with shoulder length brown hair with blue pins, and a petite body. Wait, Mistress was always like that. Why would she change? Mistress Queen was Mistress Queen.

Queen asked Melissa to pass the teapot, and Melissa touched it and the teapot floated over to Mistress Queen. And Queen thanked her, picking it out of the air. Pet wished that she had been the one asked. Pet loved to obey the Mistress.

She noticed out of the corner of her eye that girl Taylor, sitting alone at a nearby table. She was watching the table, eating quietly. Well, why wouldn't she? Who would not want to look at Mistress Queen?

After food was done, she sat and eagerly listened to the conversation going on around her, especially to Mistress Queen. She didn't have much to contribute. But then, she didn't do much that wasn't Mistress Queen's orders or opinions anymore these days. But Pet liked it that way. It was the way she felt it should be.

Not long before Lunch was over, Mistress indicated for her to approach. Pet eagerly leapt up and came forward, a smile plastered on her face.

"Have you been good today, Pet?" asked Queen, scratching Pet on her head like on might a cat or dog. Pet whined an agreement, pleasure rushing down her back. She liked it when she was praised, and when she was called Pet. It was the name Mistress had given her.

She sort of remembered a time when she had hated that name. Before she had come to terms with everything, but Pet didn't like to think of that time. Things didn't make sense then, and she was unhappy. Pet didn't want to be unhappy.

Perhaps that was why she had become like this. Mistress Queen said that Pet had adapted herself almost all on her own, and Mistress had not forced her to become like this. Pet didn't mind whether that was true or false. If Mistress wanted to change her, Mistress could and Pet would smile at however she was changed.

Pet felt Mistress stop scratching her head and whined in disappointment.

"Enough Pet" Mistress said "Be good for the rest of the day, and we can go patrol later tonight. Okay?" Pet perked up at this. She loved Mistress Queen using her to patrol. It felt so good to know she was there, with her. Pet nodded her approval and smiled.

"Okay, now, go get ready for class" Mistress Queen said, smiling herself, head cocked slightly. Pet eagerly ran off, almost skipping in happiness.

Taylor sipped her tea from where she sat, enjoying Madison's spike of fear and horror at what had become of Sophia. Before she turned Madison back to the table, to continue to play host and reigning monarch. Madison was Queen today. Taylor tried to rotate who Queen was as much as possible, but had a thing for making Madison do it.

She had been right. Sophia's mind had gotten too fragile after breaking so many times to keep resetting. Still, this new change had not been her. Well, not entirely. Even Taylor had been amazed at how subservient and submissive Sophia had become. Her mind had completely broken. Well, Stockholm Syndrome and other psychological stuff, she supposed. Pet certainly seemed a lot happier than Sophia had ever been.


	4. Interlude: Taylor

Birth of Queen

I lay in bed looking at my ceiling, thinking at how far I had come in the last 2 weeks since I had gotten my powers. I was no longer inflicting random thoughts and whims on the people surrounding me. I had figured out how to stop that early on, before I got out of the hospital as a result of the locker.

I was also getting a handle on my powers, and what they could and couldn't do. Surreptitious experimentation on criminals I had found deep in the docks had shown I had massive versatility in my powers. And I was figuring out what emotion I was seeing bleeding off of people at any given time. Or rather, what emotion what I was seeing corresponded to.

That had been confusing at first. I sort of saw the world through two eyes now; what everyone else saw, and what people were feeling. I could bring one or the other into focus. Perhaps that had had something to do with why my eyes had changed. I could see the stars that now formed in my eyes whenever I looked in the mirror. No one else at school had noticed it. Perhaps because of how I always kept my head down.

Biggest difference was when I had figured out how much easy my powers got when I had something to focus with. I had started carrying around TV remotes. They kind of made my powers easier, and I could assign functions to different buttons. Then I knew what to do. But most of all, they served as a way to aim, and a way to know when to apply them.

On the other hand, one thought kept circulating in my head over these last few weeks, and that was how I could never be a hero. Not really. My powers were too scary. Too much like Heartbreaker. Too much like the Simurgh. Maybe if I didn't reveal my full capabilities?

But the PRT would find out. I was sure of it. Especially if I worked for them, which as a hero, I would need to. The only application of my powers that would not scare the world would be my emotion vision, and I couldn't go vigilante with just that. Perhaps a Rogue, though I was still thinking how that could work.

But perhaps worst of all, was that nothing had changed at school. I had gone back this past week, and the bullying was worse than ever. Emma, Sophia, and Madison were making my life living hell once more.

I closed my eyes, feeling the tears come. It was so frustrating; I had the power to destroy them if I wanted to, but I couldn't. Not really. Not and remain me.

My confidence was at an all time low, and I despise who I am. What I am. Perhaps it was better to just die. I finally get a break, and get powers, and they're powers that would horrify. Make people fear me. What would the PRT think of them. What would my dad think of them. Without more confidence I don't think I can continue.

My eyes flew open. I needed more confidence. I looked down to the remote I had been idly playing with in my hands. Could I..? Would it even work?

Only one way to find out. I pointed the remote at my head, and pressed the button.

I stared in horror at Emma as she finished speaking. She remained standing there, frozen like Sophia and Madison. Madison looked as shocked as I felt, but Sophia was just glaring at me.

Sophia... or rather Shadow Stalker. The Ward. A hero.

Someone who was supposed to protect me. Yet had tortured me. Destroyed my life.

And now just glared at me.

I felt a surge of anger at this. And returned her glare.

Before I knew what I was doing, I pointed my remote at her, and pressed a button.

I awoke soaked in sweat. Another nightmare. More guilt at what I was doing to Sophia. It seemed almost irrational. She had hurt me... tortured me. So why should I feel guilt doing it back.

I suppose I was right to feel guilt for what I had done to Gallant, at least. But that was small. Making him think that whatever Sophia felt, it was normal. The usual. And it was necessary, or else I would have been caught.

Maybe the guilt was at how much I enjoyed torturing Sophia? No, that was not it. Though it was there. Most of it was that I was torturing her. Proving to her that I was no better than her. Feeling her emotions each day, the seething hatred and rage against me as I controlled her. Kept her a prisoner in her own body.

I enjoyed it. It gave me strength, but it also horrified a part of me. And that part was feeling guilt. Feeding it to me. Overwhelming me. Giving me nightmares and interrupting my sleep.

I didn't feel any guilt over what I had done to Emma. She had asked me for that. Quietly, in a corner somewhere. She wanted to forget. For forgiveness. A part of her had been horrified by what she had become, and how strong she needed to be. The sight of her crying in front of me, and the sincerity of emotions had made me acquiesce. And then I had pointed the remote at my head, and made me her best friend again as well.

But Sophia though. She had been behind it all. She had pushed Emma away from me. Turned her into a monster who attacked her best friend. Had gathered others. Had attacked civilians, and gotten away with it. Despite her powers. Had attacked me.

I hated her. And yet I felt guilty?! For doing what I had every fucking right to do? She believed in predator over prey, and I was the stronger. The better predator. I would show her.

Anger rising in me, I caught sight of the remote on my bedside table, and grabbed it. Pointed it at my head.

I had every right to get back at Sophia. That my body and mind were betraying me like this... it could not be allowed. I would remove this traitorous thought from my head. Remove my guilt over Sophia. I'd leave other guilt. Didn't want to turn into a sociopath, after all.

With a growl I pushed a button on the remote.

And then slept soundly for the rest of the night. No more guilt over Sophia.

I watched Pet skip across the canteen both from where I sat eating alone, and through the eyes of Madison, and wondered when Taylor had died. Was there one moment? One moment and push of a button? One moment when Taylor had become Queen? Or had it been more gradual? With Queen getting dominance, until Taylor ceased to exist, with each press of a button on a remote.

I didn't know. Perhaps I never will.

I didn't feel any guilt over what I had done to Sophia. I couldn't. I had taken that away from myself. Oh, I could still feel guilt. But Sophia, or now Pet, as she liked to be called? No. I couldn't do that.

By the time I realized that perhaps I was going too far with Sophia, it had been too late. I couldn't reverse it. If I did, I doubt I would be able to live with myself. Without guilt, I had taken it further and further. Revelling in the sadistic glee I got from torturing her. Then she had broke. Stopped resisting me. So I reset her. Made her forget breaking. And then I enjoyed it more. Until the next time.

It was only after she had begged to be destroyed completely that I wondered if I had gone to far. Though it was more an idle thought really. After all, I could not feel guilt for what I had done.

I had decided then that I could not undo the lack of guilt. To do so would destroy me absolutely. That was the moment that I realized that Taylor had died along the way. Taylor would never have driven someone to suicide, or even to beg for suicide.

I had still rest her. And continued playing with her. But my heart was not really in it anymore. Possibly that's why the next time it took slightly longer for her to break than usual.

The next time she had broken I had planned to be the last. Sixteen times was enough, after all. But then the flair of hope had just been too much to resist, and I had done it again.

She hadn't taken long to break that time. I had been rather more sadistic than usual. I had forced her to think of herself as Pet in the privacy of her own head. Had even started calling her that, and made some of my more trusted subjects call her that, when we were alone in locations alone.

And she had broken, and I had shown her the knowledge of all the other times she broke. This time, she had merely knelt there. Emotions were dulled. I almost reset her; even told her I might. It was only when she had raised her head and _smiled_ weakly at me, and told me to do whatever I want that gave me pause.

Made me think of Taylor, really.

I decided to leave her be, and then Pet had been born. Among the best things to ever happen to me.

I liked Pet. She was so eager to please. My perfect little toy. And above all else, completely _mine_. In a way no one else was. And no one could change that. Even if they somehow removed all the mental blocks I had written into her, she would still be loyal to me. Still be my perfect little Pet.

Don't get me wrong. It isn't sexual in any way. Not really. Not on my part at least. I'm not interested in girls.

I feared losing her. Hated the thought of it. Especially to the PRT. I couldn't pull her out of the Wards without putting her in more danger. I had to protect her above all else. Above even Emma.

Only Emma and Pet were really my friends. Loyal to me. Everyone else was either forced to be, or wanted to be so for social power reasons. They were the only ones I could count on. The ones I must protect at all costs.

I would protect them. Make them worthy of my friendship. After all, they were _my _friends. _Mine_.

I had Madison sip the tea before her, smiling at something Emma had said. And plotted the best way to defend what was mine.


	5. Pinprick 2-1

So, wrote another chapter. This one starting a new arc of the story. No vicious mindrape this time round, alas.

* * *

Queen's Pinprick

Amy silently cursed as Gallant was wheeled in before her. A fight with Hookwolf had gone bad. Worse than usual. Gallant had lost a lot of blood already.

She reached forward, placing her hands on him, quickly stemming the bleeding. She then got to fixing the worst injuries he had sustained.

It was hard on her. Especially the jealously she felt seething off of her as she did so. She had decided to fix him first, before Browbeat, who was currently frozen in time. She would be less fatigued then, and more able to pay attention to what she was doing. Making sure she did not screw anything up.

It was... hard. Here lay the boy who the Light of her Life loved, and she could **not **do anything to him. Not and remain the same. Be able to come out and keep doing this.

It was good she had only been working 2 hours before this, she mused, now that the main injuries were healed. The life threatening ones anyway. She took advantage of this short break to wipe the sweat from her brow. More from the emotional and mental control then her powers. Then went back to work, fixing the minor injuries.

He had hit his head when he hit the floor. Better check on that too.

Amy sighed, and paid more attention than she usually did to this part. She tended to make sure she did not focus on his mind when doing the scanning. Far too easy to give into temptation there. However much she wanted Vicky, that would be... bad.

Then she froze. She had to have imagined that, hadn't she? There would be no way anyone wouldn't notice any...

She took a deep breath, and looked over at Browbeat. Still frozen. Had been frozen while she was fixing up Gallant. He should be okay for a few minutes. She turned back to Gallant, taking another deep breath, and looked again. Deeper this time.

It was... elusive. She could barely see it, and then only when the neurons lit up. Hell, if she had not been watching herself so hard she would have missed it. Had she missed it before? Another time healing and not noticed it? When Gallant had not injured his head, or his mind had not routed anything through that part of his brain.

She shivered slightly. Then again when she realized something worse. It had been like this for months at the least. She HAD healed him and missed it. That was... bad. Really bad. Really really bad. She thought that if it had been newer, it would have been more obvious to her power, but at the moment, it had been so long...

She turned her attention away, to where the nurses and doctors were talking to Miss Militia and Velocity. Opened her mouth...

And froze again. She couldn't trust them. If whoever or whatever had gotten to Gallant and not even Victoria had noticed? Wait! Had they gotten Victoria?

That thought sent ice down her spine. How far did this go? She couldn't tell what had been done, but someone or something had messed with Gallant's brain. She could detect where a change had been forced into his psyche, and the scarring it left.

Then she saw Browbeat unfreeze in the corner of her eye, and swung over to him, waving off Clockblocker as he prepared to freeze his team mate again. Browbeat's injuries were simpler. He had only tried to intervene when Hookwolf had started on Gallant.

When she had finished fixing him up, she looked at his brain. Focusing on it hard. After a minute or two, she sighed in relief. She couldn't find anything. That meant that whatever this was, not everyone was effected.

Amy straightened. She still couldn't trust anyone without verifying first they were safe. She glanced over near the door, where Miss Militia seemed to be frowning around her scarf.

If she went about this wrong... said the wrong thing to the wrong person, then it may end up her being brainwashed or whatever this was.

Amy bit her lip, thinking it over. Gallant being grabbed made sense, since his power let him see emotions. Any brainwashing or changes would be picked up by him. That made him a priority target for whoever this was. If this was some sort of infiltration... but the modifications had happened months ago. With nothing new since.

Did that mean whoever it was had gotten what they wanted and left? Or had they grabbed the leadership and left the foot soldiers free? Or, worse, had it been _her _who had done this? The last one made her more scared than anything else.

Amy licked her lips, unsure at this point. Then approached Miss Militia. Verify first, but she would know what to do if she was clear.

Amy smiled, and said "Both healed up now. They should be okay. Thanks for calling me in" as she held her hand out to Miss Militia to shake. Miss Militia took the hand, her face creasing in a smile beneath her scarf.

Amy froze Miss Militia for a moment, and then scanned. Hoping to do this fast enough that no one would notice. She closed her eyes, praying that Velocity next to her wouldn't see that she had. She scanned, as deep as she could, searching for that same scarring that had indicated a problem with Gallant.

Nothing.

Amy sighed in relief, and release Miss Militia, saying "However, can I have a word in private?"

Miss Militia raised an eyebrow, but nodded, and Amy followed. They ducked into an empty office, and Miss Militia turned to Amy.

Amy took a deep breath, looking around hurriedly. _If there were listening devices... _her paranoia told her.

"Yes Amy?" Miss Militia said, warmly.

"I think..." Amy began, hesitating, then continuing "I think someone has messed with Dean's mind."

She saw Miss Militia start. And then decided to elaborate "My power tells me there is some sort of scarring. It's tiny, so I think I missed it before. It... might have even been me. I'm not sure. I don't think so, but still might be possible. I felt I had to tell someone, and I don't know how far this goes and so I... didn't know what to do other than to tell you" Amy babbled, hesitant and wanting it out of the way as quickly as possible.

She saw Miss Militia frown "Are you sure? And I thought you're power did not work on brains?"

Amy nods, and said "Yeah, I'm sure. It's faint, but it is there. And... brains is more a rule I set myself. I... don't know if I could stop" Amy looks at Miss Militia, looking into her eyes. Unsure expression on her face.

Miss Militia nods, thinking. "Have you checked anyone else?"

"I checked you and Browbeat, but no... I only just noticed this. It's been months from how the brain seems to have healed around it. And... I'm worried how far this goes"

Miss Militia looked thoughtful. "Check Armsmaster first, then Director Piggot. If they are clear, we'll get to clearing the rest of the Protectorate, then the Wards. And we need to keep quiet about this. If someone had infiltrated us without us noticing... that is very troubling"


	6. Pinprick 2-2

Queen's Pinprick pt 2

Coil walked through his underground base, accompanied by two soldiers and a medic. He walked with purpose, heading to a special room within his base. It was called the Tank.

He'd assigned it when it became apparent that it was the best, and more importantly, most efficient, way to get the most out of the inhabitants.

The vault like metal door, sealing the occupants in, appeared before his as he turned a corner. He really did not want the inhabitants escaping, nor anyone he did not want inside.

Coil nodded to one of the two guards at the door to open it. Then he steeled himself for the inevitable, fingering the remote in his pocket.

With the door open, he and his two guards stepped inside, and Coil caught sight of three of the rooms four occupants, sitting on the floor. All three were looking his way, faces pale, and in the case of two of them, really white. Shadows visible under their eyes. They were arranged around a monopoly board, a game in full swing (and from the looks of it, having been so for days), with the side closest to the door empty.

The room had walls of concrete, with four beds inside, arrayed at the edges of the room. A screen to change behind hid the various wardrobes for each occupant. Two walls were made up of shelving, filled with various files. A shelve contained a number of board games, and large amounts of blank paper, pens, and pencils. Upon one of the blank sections was a sign, saying "Home, Sweet Petting Zoo". This made his lips twitch beneath his mask; it had changed since Coil had last visited, and this made him amused.

Two of the occupants arrayed before him were young, prepubescent. One, a young girl of around 12, with dark brown hair and dressed in a fraying light blue dress. The other was a boy of about 10, dressed more casually, though still more formally than one might expect from a boy his age. His ethnicity was interesting, because his skin was a light, pale, blue.

The third occupant had straight blonde hair, a smattering of freckles across her nose, and was around seventeen. She was dressed in jeans and a simple plain shirt, and was wearing a slight smirk.

_Damn, better get this over with _thought Coil, his hand reaching into the pocket with the remote.

The fourth occupant of the room pounced out from the side, shouting at Coil "Terrible! Absolutely terrible news! Totally shocking! Unbelievable in fact!"

He was around 20, dressed in jeans and a simple shirt likewise. A beard already growing on his chin, and a wide grin. He reached his arms forward, but did not touch Coil. The soldiers shifted restlessly beside him. Coil sighed, and motioned for the guy to continue.

"Alice has left David at the alter to elope with her ex, Joseph, and now both David and his best man and friend Jasper are looking for them to pouYEAAAAAARGH" the man said, before the collar he was wearing around his neck activated and shocked him. He dropped to the ground twitching.

Coil looked up to see the mouths twitch of the other three, and sighed. Having them separate would have been better, but they were more efficient together. Plus, they kept the one twitching on the ground somewhat under control. As much as it irked him, the guy was too useful to him to be discarded, despite his seeming resistance to the drugs, or rather, his dedication to ignoring them for a joke.

"Queen" was all he said, and the three glanced at each other unsure, then the blonde girl rose and went over to a wall, pulling out a file. She was slightly unsteady on her feet, and then crossed to sit down cross legged again after handing him the file.

"What do you need?" she asked, her voice slightly hoarse.

"She has just been discovered, it seems. Or at least, some mind manipulator in Brockton Bay has been discovered. Whether or not it is her... First, Twitter, does she know yet?" Coil replied, sighing and looking at the pale blue boy.

The boy tilted his head, and opened his mouth. In a strange, high pitched tone, he said "Queen: Am drinking tea with my court at Winslow High. Pet is absent on Wards business, alas" Then he shook his head slightly. "Always get a headache when I read her" he mutters, in a more normal tone.

"I see, so not yet. Though perhaps soon" mused Coil "Also... Pet? Who is that?"

"It's her name for Shadow Stalker now. She changed it... maybe a month ago? Historical could probably tell you more" the blonde girl said, looking unsure and away from Coil.

Coil sighed, and looked down at his feet, where Historical was still twitching. He looked up to see the other three looking at him, his own pet fidgeting as she did so. It was to her he turned to next.

"Chances of Queen being arrested within the next week?" he asked.

"73.89%" replied his pet, fidgeting more. Coil could tell she was wanting her candy now. She was not begging though. He had the others to thank for that. Though he did wish it did not come as a result of resisting him.

"Chances that she will escape on her own or using her power?"

"0.001%"

"Chance that Queen will die in the next week?"

"26.11%" his pet replied, closing her eyes and shuddering. It must be getting hard to resist begging.

Coil nodded, thinking. Then indicated to the medic, who opened a case filled with four needles and stepped forwards. The occupants stood up and headed to the various beds, and the medic began to administer the candy to each of them.

Coil turned and left, though he activated the listening devices in the room to listen in. He knew they sometimes withheld information from him, or tried to.

"Why do you keep giving him meaningless drivel like that, Paul?" asked his Tattletale.

"Because it is hilarious? I mean, I have to have some sort of hobby in this place, no offence guys, and looking in on the various affairs going on in the world is fun. Like a sitcom but real" Coil could imagine the idiot grinning. He wished he could keep him drugged to the gills all the time, but he had problems using his power otherwise.

"He won't let you get away with it forever, you know. There's a limit, even with your power"

"Yeah, yeah. Ah, that hits the spot. Thankyou, mate. And I mean that in the most _sarcastic_ way possible. Anyway, one last thing before I slip away to lala land, Lisa, and that is; how do you or Coil know what I've been saying is drivel, or is actually quite valuable in context" A giggle proceeded this.

Coil snarled, and closed his eyes for a moment. Damn the idiot. He would _not_ be lucid for hours now, so he could not ask him. And he had better things to do than chase around what might be a joke from an idiot.

And anyway, he had much better things to worry about. Like planning a return to Brockton Bay.

Hours later, with all four lucid once more, and back to playing the game of Monopoly (each trying to gain an advantage over the others in their less-than-fully-lucid state, hoping they are more lucid than the others), Historical looked at Tattletale, sitting beside him.

Quietly, so the mikes wouldn't pick up, he said to her, and only her "I notice you did not mention that the picture of Queen we showed Twitter and Dinah is of a body double. That mean you coming around to my point of view"

Tattletale's lips thinned, and replied just as quiet "Honestly? Not sure. This or... mind control. Seems rather a bad decision set. Still..."

"Still... We'll at least be happier, and we'll have to make a choice soon. Who to support, I mean"

"Yes... but not yet, according to Dinah"

"But soon"

* * *

Not sure if I am entirely happy with this one. Idea sort of popped into my head, and just ended up writing it instead of what I wanted to write. Also shows what Coil is up to. Still, reviews welcome as always.


	7. Pinprick 2-3

Queen's Pinprick pt3

Missy frowned as she walked into the interview room. She had been ordered to the PRT HQ immediately, and in costume. She had known something was up, but suspected that it was something important like a major parahuman attack. Instead, she had been directed to wait in a conference room upstairs, on her own for several minutes, then guided by PRT agents in a full costume to this interview room.

Amy sat there, massaging her head, eyes closed. As Missy entered and was directed to sit down, Amy opened her eyes and smiled.

"Um... what's going on?" Missy asked, looking around.

Amy shook her head. "Classified. Just need your arm for a moment, ok Vista?"

Missy frowned, but extended her arm. Amy took it with one hand, the other under the table, and closed her eyes once again.

They remained like this for over a minute. Vista looking more and more unsure with each passing moment, then Amy relaxed, opened her eyes, and nodded to the PRT agent.

"Okay, you can go and wait in the Wards common room for now. I think they'll explain everything there" Amy said, sighing.

Missy nodded, and stood. Heading out of the room, passing Shadow Stalker on her way in, being guided by another PRT agent. The door shut behind her, and Missy walked on.

She barely got down the corridor when an alarm blared out, and a number of PRT agents ran past, hurrying for the interview room she had just come out of and Sophia had just entered.

As the door was thrown open, she could hear screaming on the inside, coming from Sophia.

"NO! YOU WON'T TAKE HER FROM ME! LET ME GO! I WON'T LET YOU!" before dissolving into incoherent screaming. Sophia was dragged out, kicking and screaming. She kept trying to go shadow, but the electrical restraints on her kept pushing her back to normal.

She went shadow again, this time lightning could be seen flickering through her shadow form, and then she reformed, staggering towards the stairs to the surface. One of the PRT agents tasered her in the back, and she went down.

Missy stared at this, shocked. Whatever was going on, it was bad. A PRT agent waved at her to leave, picking up Sophia's body and moving it towards the holding cells.

Missy turns and walks to the common room. Arranged on the sofas are Clockblocker, Browbeat, and Kid Win. All of them are looking worried, and glance up when Missy arrives. She takes off her mask and goes and takes a seat on one of the computer chairs, her arms over the back, looking at them.

"Any idea what's going on?" she asks.

"Not really. Though it is worrying that Gallant is not here. He was injured earlier, so that may be the reason why he is not here. But no sign of Aegis and Shadow Stalker" Dennis replied.

"Um... Shadow Stalker just... I dunno...freaked maybe? They sort of dragged her off?" Vista said, looking worried.

That got their attention.

"Seriously? First, they call us all here in the middle of the day, then they lock down communications, and now this? What the hell is happening?" Chris said

"The communications are locked down?" asked Missy, surprised.

"Yes, and they will remain so until this crisis is over" said Miss Militia, walking into the room. She did not look happy. She surveyed the Wards, who had straightened up when she entered. Beside her, a PRT agent held a box filled with helmets.

"Crisis?" asked Browbeat, looking worried.

Miss Militia sighed, and then spoke, her voice resigned "Dennis, you're in charge for the foreseeable future." To which Dennis looked panicked "And as for the crisis... three hours ago, when healing Gallant, Panacea picked up evidence that his brain had been tampered with."

Missy gasped. Dean! Was he okay? Would he be okay? Why him? A million thoughts flowed through her, and she could tell her face was a mask of shock and horror.

"As such, we're currently in the process of clearing as many people as possible. You have, thankfully, been cleared. Unfortunately, Shadow Stalker, Gallant, and Aegis all have evidence of brain tampering. Extensively in Shadow Stalker's case. As such, until a time when we can repair this and reverse the effects, or work out what the changes are, we're having to treat this as the aftermath of a Simurgh attack. The good news is we can at least detect this, unlike the Simurgh, as long as we have Amy. These helmets are designed to protect against psychic attacks" Miss Militia continued.

Missy barely heard her. Aegis too? This was bad. Her hands tightened on the back of the chair. She was no longer looking directly at Miss Militia, instead staring straight ahead, eyes unfocused. Her eyes shiny.

"For the time being, we plan to keep you here. However, your families will be checked over as soon as we have finished checking PRT personnel, and the good news is that the Protectorate and Director Piggot both check out as clean. We would like for you assist us in keeping order in the city and patrols while the Protectorate focuses on this new villain. However, protocols dictate that if you lose your helmets at any time..." Miss Militia trailed off.

The Wards glanced at one another. Missy felt fear, gripping her from within. Someone was going around and meddling with people's _brains_. She found this horrific. What did the changes do?

Clockblocker broke the silence that now reigned, by simply saying quietly "I'm in"

Missy looked up, and then Browbeat nodded and said the same. Chris looked unsure, and hesitated, then nodded. "If my parents give permission"

Everyone turned to her. Missy bit her lip, considering. This could end up like _Heartbreaker_. Losing to him was losing permanently. No coming back. Did any of the others see this?

In the end, it was simple fear that won out. Not fear of being taken over and changed, but of being seen as weak. As a stupid, weak, little girl in need of protection.

She nodded, and said "I'm in"

Miss Militia nodded, and then began handing out the helmets. "You'll need to remain here until we have checked your families over and they give permission for you to patrol under these conditions. I hope we can end this as soon as possible"

Miss Militia turned to go, but Clockblocker spoke up "Um, it might be important, but back late February, early March, Shadow Stalker was always asking about Master/Stranger . It stopped by the end of March, but it did seem odd at the time. Aegis said he would pass it on though"

"I see. And considering that Aegis is compromised..."

"Yeah..." Dennis said, voice trailing off.

"Well?" Piggot asked, as Miss Militia entered the conference room.

"They all agreed" she replied.

"Good. We may have a lead. The PRT agents in charge of checking on Winslow have been compromised. The same school that Shadow Stalker's civilian identity attends. Armsmaster is visiting the school now" Piggot replied.

Miss Militia frowned at hearing the risky move Armsmaster was taking, then continued "Also, around March, the Wards say Shadow Stalker seemed to be trying to warn us. Aegis supposedly was going to report it"

Piggot frowned as well. "Would explain why Aegis and the PRT supervisors were changed. Perhaps covering up their tracks? With Aegis' healing, the changes had to be enacted monthly, it seems, or else correct themselves. Would also explain why Gallant was changed. Most likely to detect anything wrong with Shadow Stalker. If this has nothing to do with the Wards and instead is something focused on Winslow..."

"Armsmaster will find out, he should be arriving about now anyway" Miss Militia said, but with a feeling of dread. He could be walking straight into a trap. Though his helmet should protect him, in theory.

* * *

Not too sure how I feel about how this one came out. Some facts I wanted to tell perhaps didn't make it in or feel shoehorned. Comments and reviews are, as always, welcome and encouraged. Though please at least make them constructive. I should mention: Aegis does have some resistance to the mind control; he takes it, but his body repairs the damage. So he has to be repeatedly hit on a regular basis.

Next time: Armsmaster vs Queen! Probably. If I don't get distracted writing something else.


	8. Pinprick 2-4

Queen's Pinprick pt4

Colin sighed as he walked through the school following Principle Blackwell in costume as Armsmaster. Everything certainly seemed normal. At least, normal for a high school. He did not really have fond memories of High School himself, so couldn't really tell.

The Principle had evidently come down to meet him herself, when she had heard he had pulled up on his bike. She had mentioned that she had been dealing with a problem herself, and if there was a problem to follow her to her office.

Colin did frown slightly as he realized that the route they were taking was not the quickest, but that might have had more to do with showing off to the kids than a plot. Impressing them with a member of the Protectorate turning up or something. He had seen a lot in his time, especially when visiting schools. Petty little political games that he did not understand being played. Nevertheless, he could not discount anything when mind effecting parahumans were involved. And it did seem to be an inefficient route.

It was lunchtime, and the brats were filling the corridors between classes, and outside in the area that the school grounds covered. Perhaps he could have timed getting here a little differently, but then, if there was anything strangegoing on, this might be the perfect time to find it.

They entered the dining hall, and Colin once again frowned. Why route through the dining hall? That was quite a long way from the Principle's office, according to the plans. Perhaps it was more of the politics bullshit that had seemingly sent them on this already long detour.

Colin sighed, and tried to calm himself. He was here to see if there was anything unusual, so he started glancing around. Then stopped and froze as a light in his helmet started blinking.

Someone had just tried to attack him with a mental attack.

He whirled, looking around the room, and his eyes met those of a cute, petite, brunette sitting at the head of a table, holding a television remote pointing at him, and a tea cup frozen near her frozen smile.

They looked at each other. He looking into her eyes and she looking directly at his helmet. They seemed odd, with little stars in them. Something to think about, perhaps.

Colin then reached over his shoulder, unsheathing one of the two Halberds he was carrying. Maintaining eye contact as he did so.

For her, she seemed to try again, pressing a button on the remote. Smile fading from her face. Again, there was the blinking light informing him of a blocked attempt.

His Halberd reconfigured itself into capture mode, and he fired it off, directly at her. This would be best ended quickly.

The completely random student who leaped into the way, getting himself captured and knocking the Halberd off course, was not part of the plan.

The girl took a sip of her tea, no longer smiling.

"Typical, they send someone immune" she said, and then turned to the girl on her left. A redhead, and a rather pretty one at that. "Emma, I think it would be best if you leave. It would hurt me greatly if you were injured."

The redhead nodded, and stood, looking warily at Colin, who had drawn his other Halberd. He was about to reconfigure it, planning on capturing someone else, either the mind controller herself or this Emma, but then...

Everyone in the room stood and faced him. Ah. Ok. Definitely some kind of mind control then. Probably a Tinker what with that remote.

Emma looked at him, then at the girl with the remote, and said "Okay, Queen. Promise me you'll be fine though?"

The brunette, who was Queen? Replied "Of course I'll be fine. I'm Queen. Your bestest friend in the whole world"

Emma, still looking unsure, headed for the exits. Colin turned towards her, raising his Halberd, planning to get her, since she was obviously important or under the girls control, when one of the metal tables slammed into him, knocking him into the wall at the back of the room.

He looked up to see a girl with long blonde hair in Empire Eighty Eight colours touch another table, which started floating.

Rune, great. This just went from hard to difficult.

"Melissa! You've ruined the tea set!" Admonished Queen, sitting there with her teacup and remote in hand. The table she had been sitting at now next to Armsmaster. Melissa looked abashed at that.

"This is Armsmaster at Winslow. Encountered the mind effecting parahuman. Appears to be a tinker with mind control. Helmet worked. Also, tell whichever one of our thinkers that decided that Rune HAD to be at Immaculata that they were wrong. She is here, and under our tinker's control. Tinker appears to be named Queen" Armsmaster said over the communications to the PRT. He thought for a moment, then one of the girls who had been sitting at the same table as Queen fired off a lightning bolt, which he dodged. "Request backup. She has multiple parahumans under her control"

Queen seemed to be frowning. A quick glance around the room confirmed what he thought he had seen out of the corner of his eye. That many of the normal students were leaving the dining hall, covering for Emma's escape. That was good. She had less students to swarm him with.

Of course, he still had three parahumans to fight. Four, he corrected, as a Hispanic boy suddenly raced into the room and towards him on what appeared to be some sort of powered roller skates. He dodged that as the boy tried to hit him with a baseball bat.

He was getting tired of dodging the various attacks from the different parahumans, which were firing at him, so he swung down with his halberd, knocking the boy to the floor, then dodged another table.

"Leave Trevor alone!" shouted Rune, touching two more tables to join the three she had in the air already. Definitely some kind of mind control, if a member of Empire 88 was protesting him hitting a Hispanic.

Armsmaster threw his Halberd in capture mode at Rune, who manoeuvred a table in the way, and then summoned both his Halberds to his hands. The fire alarm seemed to have been set off during the battle.

Colin frowned. Four parahumans, including three that were unknown. That was odd. Have to look into this at a later date.

Queen seemed to watching, a smile on her face. Confident. Like she expected to win this.

"His helmet. Lets see if he can defend himself against me if his helmet comes off" she said.

Colin cursed as the three other parahumans nodded, and then all the remaining students in the room started to walk forwards. There were only about thirty of them, but that still could swarm him.

Colin whipped one of the halberds in his hand down and zapped skater boy, making sure he was down for the count, and then turned his other halberd towards Queen, and let off an EMP blast.

That might take down her mind control. Hopefully. Maybe. Possibly not.

The students kept advancing, providing a shield for the two remaining parahumans. Queen seemed to be frowning at him.

He ignored this, swinging his halberd around and zapping the students nearest to him. Trying to take as many down as possible before the rest swarmed him. He slammed his halberd into another girl, who did not go down, and merely smiled at him.

Damn, the electrical girl from earlier.

Colin was forced to dodge the bolt she fired off at him then, back against the wall. Swinging his halberd down and knocking her from her feet. Then everyone backed off suddenly, and the Queen walked forwards.

"I'm curious, you know. As to why you would come here today?" Queen said, smiling at him and twirling the remote in her fingers.

"You" rasped out Armsmaster, exhausted. He looked around at the remaining 10 students still standing, along with Rune and the lightning girl. And Queen. Oh, and now that he thought about it, Principle Blackwell was still standing off to the side, apparently unconcerned.

"Oh? What gave me away now? I'm just curious" Queen said, hand to her mouth as she tittered. Ok, that was annoying.

"We noticed scarring in the brain. Especially in Shadow Stalker's" Armsmaster replied, glancing around. He knew he could take them, but they were aiming to pull off his helmet, and once that happened, it was all over. At least, he assumed it was all over. Better to wait for backup what with the other parahumans and students who attacked without concern for their own safety.

"Oh? So my power leaves a permanent effect, does it? That's interesting. However" and here her voiced turned darker. "You mentioned Sophia. What have you done with my Pet?"

Pet? Ok, that sounded creepy. And casually outing her to the... well, mind thralls. That was not good either.

"Locked away until we can undo your influence" Armsmaster said.

Queen tilted her head to the side and laughed. "Oh, but my Pet is one of my only friends in the world. One of the only ones that are loyal to me because of them, and not loyal to me because I make them. And you. Want. To. Take. Her. Away?" Queen said, finishing with her voice hard. She was glaring at Armsmaster.

Okay... that seemed to have hit a nerve. Armsmaster glared back. As much as he wanted to finish this now and on his own, it was fear that held him back. Fear of being taken.

She pointed her remote at him. "I'm going to enjoy making you suffer you bas..."

She was interrupted by the bullet shattering the remote. Miss Militia strode into the room, wearing one of his anti-psychic helmets. Queen clutched her hand, and glared at Miss Militia, than at Armsmaster.

"Calling for backup? Not like you" she growled.

The students and two parahumans seemed to be waking up, and then they ran. Seemingly in fear. Rune leaped onto a table, the flew out of the room before either Armsmaster or Miss Militia could react. The electrical girl tried to blend in, but Armsmaster hit her with his capture halberd, and she went down.

Queen had turned to run as well, but Miss Militia had hit her in the back with rubber bullets, sending her sprawling. She then walked over and cuffed Queen, wrenching her up and onto her feet. Armsmaster picked up the boy who had raced at him earlier, and carried him as he went and picked up the electrical girl.

"Ok, that could have gone better" Colin said, letting out a breath he had been holding in relief.

"Perhaps. Still, we managed to take her down, though destroyed her control device" Miss Militia said, carrying the girl over. Colin took out a taser, and zapped her unconscious.

"Yeah. That mind control... freaks you out, you know?"

Miss Militia merely nodded, as they walked out of the building. "Still a lot of work to do. Lots of students fled, and we need to work out what her power _was, _or at least, what it was doing. And how many people were effected by it. At least, with her in custody, we can let down some of the restrictions on the Wards and Protectorate. Let them go home" was what she replied with instead.

"Best get her into containment ASAP. Then we can worry about that" Colin muttered, looking around. He hoped that the media would not catch wind of this. Really really bad for PR, this.

He sighed, and threw the two parahumans he had captured into the back of the PRT van outside, coating them with foam. The other van, with Queen in it, was already driving off.

At least it was over. Wasn't it?

* * *

Not too sure about the ending on this one. Or about Armsmaster's characterization. would like to hear about people's opinions on the matter. May come back and rewrite it if too many people think it is off. To be honest, I just wanted to get on to the next chapter, which has been in my head for days now. Where we see Queen's revenge against Amy for taking her precious Pet away from her. ^^


	9. Pinprick 2-5

Queen's Pinprick pt 5

Amy rubbed her eyes, looking up at the wearily smiling Armsmaster leaning around the side of the door. He looked like he was about to keel over, and no wonder; he had been awake for over 48 hours now. Working non-stop to get barely one hundred helmets ready to protect the PRT headquarters building.

Helmets Amy knew would start breaking down pretty soon if Armsmaster did not maintain them. There was a reason that they were not used against the Simurgh or even in general issue.

As a stop gap measure to protect vital positions while they either caught the mind manipulator or evacuated at risk personal, it was perfect.

"It's over. We caught her" Armsmaster said "You can head home now"

"Really? You found her?" Amy asked, looking up with an answering weary smile on her face. The fact that Gallant had been involved had scared her, and she still did not know if Vicky had been gotten as well.

"Found and caught. Looks like she was some sort of Tinker with mind control speciality. Went by Queen. She admitted to it, and my lie detector gave a truthful response. So looks like it really is her. Controlling her school to become some sort of high school Queen. Looks like it had nothing to do with the Wards. Just that Shadow Stalker was at her school, and had fallen under her control. We still need you to keep looking and vetting people, but head home and sleep in your own bed for once. We can get started on clean-up in the morning" Armsmaster said, smile fading some as he looked off wistfully.

Amy nodded and stood. Heading to check herself out of the building. Everyone seemed to be relaxing. Mind control scared everyone. The thought that there might be someone like Heartbreaker in the area had had everyone spooked and on edge. One of the people showed her a picture of Queen when she checked out. Weird eyes. Perhaps a case 53?

The guards on duty were still wearing the helmets, Amy noticed. Which makes sense. They were only standing down to a lesser alert level, but protocol dictated that they maintain protection against this.

The truly amazing thing about all this was how long things seemed to have lasted and not been noticed. For five months, things seemed to have slowly escalated into Queen taking over the school, bit by bit, until everyone was either under her control, or felt it was normal. The experts were still wondering how she had done it without being noticed, even with the apparent perception filter that the people supposed to be looking out for this had.

Amy crossed the carpark, heading to her car, checking the time and sighing in relief that it was not too late. Getting in and putting on her seatbelt, turning on the headlights, and then turning out of the carpark and driving home.

Leaving brought forward new energy. It had been exhausting and wearying staying the last few days at the PRT headquarters. She had had to catch naps between verifying individuals. The Wards had oddly been late in being verified, despite the Gallant being the first to be noticed. Piggot had wanted trusted agents of the PRT verified next after the Protectorate, which made sense in a way, since the Wards should not be going up against a mind manipulator like Queen had been, and finding how far the corruption went in the PRT seemed more important.

Amy sighed, and concentrated on driving home. She just wanted to get home and relax. Pulling into the driveway and turning off the car, she closed her eyes and leaned on the steering wheel for a moment.

Then she got out of the car and went inside.

She glanced up as she entered the living room and saw Carol sitting there, sipping from a coffee cup with one hand and holding the Television remote in the other.

"Hello Amy" Carol said, turning towards her with a smile on her face. A smile oddly unlike Carol. "I've been waiting for you"

Amy frowned, then froze as she saw Carol's eyes. They were odd, and appeared to have stars in them.

Eyes just like the picture of Queen she had seen as she was leaving.

Amy turned to run, to get out and away, then froze and turned around. She could... understand the command that had entered her brain. She knew exactly what it meant. _Stand on the spot and look at me until countermanded._

"Queen" Amy said quietly, staring at the person who had brainwashed three members of the Wards, numerous PRT agents and an entire school.

Queen smiled with Carol's face. "So you know who I am. This makes things easier then" Queen sipped from the coffee mug, grimacing. "No proper teacups in the house, you know. Terrible. I had to make do with this horrible mug instead. Still, at least a bought some tea, and did not have to make do with barbarian coffee. Of course... this mug has not done anything for my mood. On the other hand... having you here, for me to get my revenge..."

Queen smiled a shark like grin and threw the coffee mug over her shoulder, where it shattered both itself, and the television screen.

_Okay, that probably means screaming won't work, _Amy thought. No way anyone in the house could have missed the crash. And Queen did not seem concerned. Still, with Queen talking about revenge... Amy shuddered. This did not sound good. She needed to get away from here.

Amy tried to move experimentally. And found as long as she did not move from the spot she was standing, or move so she was not looking at Queen, then she could move what she liked.

She tried to yell, knowing it probably wouldn't help, but she screamed out "HELP!"

Queen just laughed, her hand going to her mouth. "Oh, don't worry. It is just us for now. Your dear father is sleeping, and will be until at least dawn tomorrow. Your Mother is under my control, and your sister Victoria is out on patrol. So... it is just... us" Queen drew out the last sentence, smirking and looking into Amy's eyes as she stepped closer.

Amy shuddered again, staring in fear at Queen. Wishing she could run. Her body thrumming with adrenalin. Every instinct screaming at her to run, but her feet were rooted to the spot.

"Please..." Amy said, but was then interrupted by Queen.

"Please? Please what? Let you go? No. No we cannot have that. After all, you helped take something from me. Something of MINE"

Amy flinched.

Queen began to slowly and lazily pace around the living room, idly twirling the remote in her fingers. Amy could only watch in growing horror.

"So you see, I have come for revenge. After all, you led to my precious Pet being taken by the PRT." Queen practically spat the letters as she said them. "And you cost me a pair of my knights. Locked up with my Pet. And now I am known by the PRT, though I am confident I can win against them. What can they do against my loyal order of knights? Still, I am a proud individual, and you have wronged me. Shall I tell you about the last three people who wronged me as much as you have? Who angered me as much as you have? What I did to them?"

Queen paused and looked at Amy, who remained frozen. Queen smiled her evil smile, and resumed her pacing.

"They were Emma, Madison and Sophia, though you will know Sophia as Shadow Stalker more than her civilian identity. Emma, at least, I could forgive when she explained to me the circumstances. When she begged for her mistakes to be erased, and so I did. Sophia... well, I spent months torturing her, since she was the ringleader. The cause of it all. Then... she broke. And became Pet. Who will never leave me. And will always be my friend. A true friend, not like the people who I force to be my friends at school" A wistful look crossed Queen's face.

"She and Emma are my only true friends, you know. Who would remain my friends even if my powers were reversed. All the others are there because of my power. Whether it is because of fear or greed or being forced. All because of my power. But Emma and Pet? They are my true equals in friendship"

Queen whirled to face Amy and look into her eyes. Those creepy stars looking directly at her. "And you took Pet from me. You forced Emma to run and hide. She cannot return home now, what with the PRT waiting for her in those horrible helmets. You took that from her. You took freedom from Pet. And above all, you hurt my FRIENDS!"

Amy wiped her brow, wiping the sweat away. She could feel it trickling down her back. She wanted to be anywhere but here. Away from here. Away from the crazy girl with mind control powers. The look of hate and the glare levelled at her was seriously scaring her like nothing had before.

Then Queen started to pace again. Still twirling the remote in her hands. Amy found it... if not easier, certainly more reassuring... to watch the remote. As long as it was not pointed at her...

"Of Madison, you may have met her. I let her have her memories, though I blocked my face from her mind. She got to silently watch her two friends become mine. And serve as my host sometimes when I held court in the dining hall. She is currently sitting in the PRT cells right now. I imagine her hell is a lot worse right now, since I blocked the English language from her mind. So there she sits, having been captured by the PRT who are now convinced she is me, and unable to understand anyone or speak for herself. She must be fearing being sent to the Birdcage right now. Imagine that. An ordinary, powerless human in the Birdcage surrounded by the worst parahumans on the planet."

Queen laughed at this, bringing a hand up to her face. It was a cruel laugh. And made Amy cringe.

"Of course... I knew them. Knew who they were. I knew how to get back at them. You... you I don't know. Don't know your weak points. Your wants and needs and fears. So that is why we are having this conversation. Because above all else, I want to see you suffer" Queen's tone was oddly light. Calm. Confident. She stared at Amy, remote touching her smiling mouth. Head tilted slightly in question.

Amy whimpered, starring at her. Staring at the monster that had taken over Carol.

"You know, I think I already found one. Did you know your mother worries more about your father and sister than you? She barely worries about you. In fact, she barely seems to care about you at all. I can feel it right now. All of her emotions. Now why might that be?" Queen said whimsically.

"She's conscious in there?" Amy asked quietly in horror, staring at Carol. She had already guessed at possession of some kind, but hearing that Carol was hearing every word of this, and the though of what Queen had hinted was coming filled Amy with Ice.

"Oh yes. Listening to every word. Now then, we were about to discuss all your wants and fears..."

"NO! Please... not in front of Carol... anything but that" Amy pleaded, voice weak, lurching forward with her feet remaining frozen to the floor.

"Oh? Is it that bad? And Carol? Not mum? So you are aware of how she feels of you? What could possibly be that bad you don't want her to know? Or is it just spilling your darkest secrets to dear Carol is that embarrassing to you? Hmmm, it is times like this I wish I could feel emotions through my hosts, rather than just my own bodies. Oh well. Either way, if it hurts _you_" Queen seemed to be enjoying this way too much, and flipped the remote down and aimed it at Amy, and pressed a button.

Tears began to flow down Amy's face as she felt the command. _Tell me all of your fears and desires. _Her mouth opened and she began to spill all her secrets.

Of her fear of becoming like her father, whoever she was. Of her forbidden love of her sister Vicky, and how dirty and disgusting that love made her feel. Of how she had wished other parents for her and her sister so many times in the past.

Of how she hated the responsibility of being Panacea. Of being the only one to heal people.

And of her fear of her powers, and especially what they may do to brains. And her darkest, most secret fear and desire.

To make Victoria love her, like she loved Victoria.

All through it, Queen tittered. At this last, she laughed her evil laugh. Throwing her head back and laughing from deep within her chest.

"Dear me little Amy" she said when Amy had stopped, still sobbing where she stood. Her body now hung in defeat. "You are a broken little thing are you not? Nevertheless, you did wrong me. And I do still want to get revenge. Hmmm, what to do? Well, now that you have explained everything, I suppose you deserve a break. A reward. Yes, that sounds nice, don't you think?" Queen said, an evil smile on her lips. And then she pressed a button on the remote.

Amy's eyes went wide in an instant, understanding the command. Knowing as she had the last two commands Queen had given her. "NO! PLEASE! NOT THIS! ANYTHING BUT THIS! Torture me! make me suffer weeks of endless pain! Rape me! Wipe my mind and destroy me! Leave me an empty husk! Make me into one of your hosts! Anything but this!" Amy shouted, begging, staring in absolute horror at Queen, who smiled.

"Oh, but why Amy? After all, this is what YOU wanted" Queen said, turning towards the door to the kitchen.

"Nonononononono" Amy said, desperately.

"Oh yes, and now go wait upstairs" Queen said, remote pointing over her shoulder as she released Amy from the spot she had been rooted to.

Amy walked, sobbing desperately towards the stairs, shaking, while Queen walked into the kitchen.

With Amy safely out of the way, Queen smiled, and then spoke. "Ironic really. That you start seeing her as a daughter with this. Seeing her laid bare like that. I could fear it. You shared the same fears as her when it comes to her father. Some family bonding? Oh well. I have had my revenge. Whether or not Victoria returns tonight or not. I do not care anymore. I have others to take my revenge on after all"

Queen turned her gaze at this, looking into the eyes of the thirteen year old girl standing silently trembling in the kitchen. Staring with wide eyes into Queen's.

"And I really must thank you, Missy, for telling me who it was that had locked away my precious Pet." Queen said, pressing a button on the remote.

Then Missy stopped trembling, and stars appeared in her eyes as the stars in Carol's faded.

"After all, you are the weapon of my vengeance, not the target" Queen said with Missy's voice, waving her hand to freeze Carol as she tried to bolt. "Ah ah ah! Cannot have you interrupting, however this goes tonight"

Queen walked over to Carol, now in Missy's body, and plucked the remote from Carol's hands. "I think it best if you go up to bed and stay there until dawn, keeping quiet of course." And with that, pressed a button on the remote.

Carol walked out of the room and up the stairs. And Queen let herself out the back, walking around the front. Hiding herself from Glory Girl, who darted down to land on the driveway.

Well, looks like that ended just in time.

Queen nodded to Anthony and David, who stepped out of the shadows, and then they began to walk, crossing the city quickly.

It was so easy to move around with the power of Vista at her disposal.

* * *

So... yeah. This is the longest chapter yet, I believe. Even after I split off part of it for the next. I got really inspired writing this. This or the next part is likely to be what loses me readers. After all, I went after cute little Vista. Actually, that was a surprise on my part, to be honest. I was not planning on that at all, and then my muse threw it in. The Amy part I have been planning for a while, and in a twisted way, looking forward to it.

I've noticed worryingly that I tend to write best when writing fucked up shit.

Which may be why I wrote so much. At the moment, I'm actually trying to pad the next bit though, since this was the place to leave so it made sense and most effective. It felt like a good cliffhanger. Yet there was still stuff from Amy I was looking forward to writing, so double update. Splitting here and having a shorter chapter deal with what happened to Amy.


	10. Interlude: Amy

Warning: May be some triggers for some people in this chapter. Then again, if anything does trigger you, probably not a good idea to be reading any of this fan fic.

Also, double update. split this chapter into two.

* * *

Amy

Amy turned, and saw to both her dismay and, worse, delight, that Vicky was walking into the room. She stopped and blinked, seeing Amy standing there.

"Ames? You okay?" She asked. Amy walked over to her and hugged her, and Vicky hugged her back. "What's wrong? You look like you've been crying"

"I'm sorry" Amy said, quietly, full of sorrow, then felt herself attack.

She at least ascertained that her sister had been unaffected by Queen, before her own power changed Vicky's brain. Even as she did that, she filled her sister with desire and lust. Too quickly for Vicky to truly notice what was happening.

And then she looked at her sister, and their lips met greedily.

Amy woke, feeling the warmth of her sisters naked body against hers. And horror and bile rose within her. She swung out of her sister's bed, backing away, staring at Victoria, still sleeping.

"Nonononononononono. Oh god no" she said, quietly so as not to wake Victoria. She shivered as the cold air hit her skin, or perhaps it was just in the sheer horror of what she had done.

She had to fix this. Make it right. Now she was... if not in her right mind, then in better mind that she had been last night without Queen fucking with her head. She approached, touching her sister, and changed the more permanent changes her power had wrought within the mind of her sister back again.

Sighing with relief when it was done, standing, and spending a moment to watch her sister sleep. Breathing softly. The rise and fall of her chest. Her angelic face, hanging open and the tiny drool emerging from it.

Then she fled to the bathroom, throwing up into the toilet. Emptying her stomach. Kneeling there, feeling the self disgust she had felt at herself for years reaching new levels. Beyond anything before. Tears streaming down her face half hidden by her hair as she sobbed out her misery.

She had raped her sister.

There was no other word for it. This was the sort of thing villains like Heartbreaker did. Toying with emotions. Forcing people into bed with them.

There was no hope now. She was a villain. Like her father before her. It really was in the blood.

She had no idea any longer why she had deluded herself into thinking she could be anything different. That she could be a hero. A force for good. This was clear to her now.

Vicky would never forgive her this. And Vicky was the only one who cared. Her only friend. Her only family. And she had poisoned it.

She was now truly alone, with no one to care about her.

With this thought, she made her decision.

Amy stood, shaky on her legs, and left the bathroom, heading for the kitchen. She brought three things back with her, and started to run the bath.

She blamed herself. For Queen had not been so cruel as to outright command her to rape her sister. No, it had been worse than that. All she had commanded was to act on her desires for one night only.

It had been all her. Her desires. Her fantasies. If she did not have these horrible, twisted, disgusting desires... These fucked up lusts...

Then this would never have happened. Victoria would be fine, and happy.

And she had ruined Vicky. Taken that most precious thing from her. Her precious innocence.

She had taken that perfect visage, and defaced it. Soiled it.

Dragged the angel down from heaven and into hell.

She took two of the items she had brought from the kitchen in hand. A pen and paper, and then wrote a simple message; "I'm sorry".

She wasn't sure who she was writing it to, if she was honest. Aunt Sarah? Carol? Mark?

Herself?

Vicky?

Maybe all of them.

Maybe none of them.

She turned off the taps and climbed into the bath. She hadn't put any clothes on since last night, so there was nothing to take off. They were still on Victoria's floor.

She took the third and last item from the kitchen in hand, and looked at it. It was a kitchen knife, and quite a sharp one as well. She remembered Vicky cutting herself with it when they were both cooking together, and Amy rolling her eyes and healing her. Carol and Mark had been out. Something about trying to help with Mark's depression.

Amy's eyes filled with tears over the reminder of what she had just destroyed.

Maybe without her, Carol, Mark and Victoria could be the family they always should have been. Happy. Loving. Together.

The pain of her wrists being slit made her hiss. But then she enjoyed the pain. It was her punishment after all. For being like this. For being a disgusting, perverted, deviant rapist.

She put the knife down, and lay back in the bath. Watching her life drain from her.

She then looked up, staring at the ceiling. Her tears staining her face.

She had lost everything last night. Her innocence. Her precious rules. The right to call herself a hero. Vicky.

Victoria would want nothing to do with her now.

She was worthless.

A villain.

If not death, then the only place for her was the birdcage now.

Her consciousness fading as she bled out.

Wouldn't be long now.

Just before she lost consciousness completely, she heard the door shatter, and Carol's voice shout out, as if from far away "Amy? Amy! Mark, quick call an ambula..."

* * *

Sooooo, yeah. this is probably the most fucked up thing I have written yet. Why can't Amy ever have nice things? Poor Amy. Fucked in canon, and fucked here. Part of me wonders if this is the line that people will think I have crossed, and make me lose readers. Sophia is a justified victim. We enjoy her suffering because of how horrible a person she was. Amy though? Amy is a victim in canon and here. And really, she has done nothing wrong.

Hell, it is a popular fan theory that Victoria's aura is the entire reason she is in love with Vicky.

Yet I seem to enjoy seeing her suffer. Perhaps it is just the dominant in me. Or the evil Bastard.

On another note, I have noticed a lot of the reviews commenting about the psychic helmets. Just to clear up if it was not clear from last chapter, they are something that Armsmaster has to personally maintain. They are his invention, after all. And without him putting in the hours, they will break down. Hours he cannot afford to put in normally. They are merely a stop gap measure. And as to their canonity, they mainly serve as something that Queen cannot get through. Some way to increase the threat to her.

Still, hope you guys decide to stick around after this fucked-up chapter. Until next time.


	11. Palace 3-1

Queen's Palace

Missy Biron shivered in the cell she was currently in. She could tell it was somewhere in the Ship's Graveyard by the walls, which were rust brown. There was a mattress thrown on the floor, some sort of tinker tech toilet, and what appeared to be a tinker forcefield making up the only way into the room. It bathed the entire area in a blue glow.

Missy held her arms around her, hugging herself, and glanced at the helmet that lay against the wall where she had thrown it when she had been captured. She still could feel the burn on the back of her neck from when it had overloaded and shocked her.

Ironic, in a way, that the helmet had been what knocked her down. Queen had not even used her power on her. In fact, only possession had been used against her. At least, as far as she knew.

Which was the problem. Guilt sat heavy in her stomach. She had betrayed Panacea, and then had to listen to the results of her actions. She had betrayed the only person known to be able to detect those detected out of fear. At least, Missy was hoping it was fear and not some sort of revenge for Panacea detecting Gallant. She wasn't sure she could tell anymore.

She rubbed her red eyes and sniffed. She had long cried all her tears, this late into the night. She'd thrown up a lot as well, at the beginning. She was glad some meal rations had been left in the cell with her.

Missy had considered going against her word and escaping, but fear held her back there. Queen had promised to erase her if she tried.

Erase her completely.

She had asked what Queen meant by that, and Queen had told her it meant if she tried to escape, then everything that made her Missy Biron, and a good chunk of what made her Vista, would be taken from her. Memories, feelings, thoughts. All taken from her.

That was the penalty for breaking her agreement with Queen.

Missy thought over the agreement again. She had been going over it, looking for loopholes.

It was a simple agreement. In exchange for giving information on the Wards and Protectorate, and allowing Queen to possess her, then she and her family would not have any modifications to her mind.

Which meant that she was sitting in this cell. Better than having her mind erased.

It had happened when she headed home to her mother's house. When she got back, she found her mother was out, and worse, Queen in.

Queen had simply glared at the helmet, and pressed a button on the remote anyway. Almost flippantly, as if knowing it would not work.

When the stupid thing had shocked her the look of surprise on her face had been something, Missy supposed. She always seemed so confident and sure of herself. Queen's laugh while Missy lay there, twitching, had been like a knife to the heart.

She had simply sat there at the dining room table, sipping tea, watching her. Waiting for her to try something, it had seemed.

As Missy had lay there, something in her broke. She had felt the feeling return to her limbs, but still lay there, on the floor, watching Queen.

Finally, Missy had spoken. Not Vista, but Missy. She couldn't remember what she had said. She had half babbled, half sobbed, for a while. Part surrender, part begging.

And Queen had just laughed, and came up with her offer. And Missy had accepted, tearfully. Answering the questions Queen asked. Betraying everything she had stood for. Betraying her team. Her friends.

Then Queen had possessed her the first time.

It had felt weird. Someone else moving her body. Calmly wiping the tears away and standing up. Watching the women who had been possessed by her run out of the house.

Then they had headed to the Dallon residence, in the company of Queen's two "Knights", Anthony and David. They'd taken down the PRT team watching the place in seconds. David teleporting into their midst, and Anthony shooting beams of light at them.

Then their helmets taken off, Queen had taken them over, and they had carried on reporting as if nothing had changed. They even put the helmets back on. Anthony and David had been left outside, on watch.

Queen had entered, and then froze Brandish as she stood in the kitchen. Froze her to the spot. Then went and pushed Flashbang to go sleep, before returning and transferring her consciousness into Branish and ordering Missy to wait right there and not make a sound.

Missy had done as she was told. She had heard everything, standing there trembling. She hadn't dared move from the spot.

She'd considered running at that point, but even if Queen didn't capture her right away, where else could she go? She couldn't go back to the Wards. Not after selling them out. One check by one of the many ways they were coming up with to detect Queen's commands would show that. At least when they got them into Brockton Bay.

Clinic's massive MRI scanner was supposedly already delivered and awaiting set up and testing on either Dean or Carlos, who had both volunteered. Maybe they had even done it.

And her parents... well... home hadn't felt like it for far too long now. Either of their homes.

The only place that had felt like home had been the Wards. And yet, when it came down to it, she had betrayed them all. Dennis, Carlos, Chris, even Browbeat, new as he was. From what she could tell, Sophia didn't count anymore. Sophia apparently was not even Sophia.

Missy lay down on the mattress, and pulled the blanket she had been given over herself. She stared at the ceiling. Wishing she was not such a coward. Fear had always drove her. Fear of being seen as a baby. Of not being seen as mature as the others. Of being alone. And then it had been fear of becoming something other that had led to her throwing away everything.

If you strike the blade you are forging too hard, it does not temper, but breaks.

"Missy?" a voice asked, and Missy sat up, and stared through the blue ripples of her prison door.

"Aisha?" she asked, shocked, staring at the younger sister of Sophia's boyfriend. They'd met a few times when Sophia started coming to social stuff, as long as she could bring her boyfriend, of course.

And sometimes, the boyfriend had brought Aisha.

"What're you doing here? Was just dropping by to see the new prisoner, and it's you?" Aisha asked, scratching her head.

Missy bit her lip, and looked away. "Surrendered" she said, quietly.

"Ah? But why the cage? Was expecting someone immune to her power, but as far as I know, Vista has nothing stopping Queen from playing around with her brain. Making you her little mindslave"

"Part of the agreement for my surrender. Wait... how did you know I'm Vista?"

"Not that hard to figure out, since I know Pet is Shadow Stalker. Though these days, I suppose it is more accurate to say Queen and Pet is Shadow Stalker. Queen seems to enjoy running around as the hero all the time. Damn, so you got captured, eh?"

Missy stared at the little teen, and then asked "Why are you here?"

Aisha grinned. "My power kind of doesn't mesh with Queen's. Makes people forget I exist. And it's always on. Queen needs line of sight from one of her consciousnesses to mind fuck you. And my power makes me invisible to them and her Knights. Let me sneak around. Plus, my brother kind of is one of her knights now, so want to keep an eye on him"

"He... is? How many Knights are there? I can't believe there are 5 unknown parahumans even in this city, all working for Queen"

Aisha was still and solemn for a moment. "It's... worse than five. She's got somewhere between twenty and thirty now."

"What? How does she keep finding them?" Missy stared in horror at Aisha.

"She... triggers them. Ever heard of sensory deprivation?" Missy nodded. "Well, Queen locks a bunch of students out of all their senses. Brain goes into overdrive, panicking like anything. If you get the potential to trigger... you trigger. Then she wipes the memory of the experience which led to you triggering. Fucking gives her her own personal army. I was... lucky. I triggered over the stress and panic of waiting to be triggered. Which meant I could run away easy enough without the nice brainwashing. Still, one look from Queen and I'm her nice little mind bitch. Maybe. I think her programming has glitches when it comes to me"

Missy remained staring. This was bad. Wait, programming? "What do you mean programming?"

"You haven't noticed? Queen. She pretty much is constrained by a bunch of those same instructions she gives to everyone else. Figured out a few myself. Biggest one seems to be that she has to be confident. See her lose her confidence? She goes batshit nuts. Next seems to be that she has to protect her friends, which pretty much means Emma and Pet. One thing that has her going against the Protectorate really. The one which is against me is she doesn't feel any guilt for anything she does to protect her friends. As long as she can justify it as helping her friends, then she doesn't feel any guilt"

Aisha sighed, then continued to explain "Which is where I come in. Brian's my brother, but is also Pet's boyfriend, and Pet seems to care for him. Losing me will hurt Brian, which in turn may hurt Pet. Therefore, attacking me is something she cannot do. At the same time, I pose a threat to her and her friends, so she seems conflicted over what to do about me. I just sort of skulk around in the dark, hoping that none of them see me. Waaaaay to many powers linked to senses, light and movement around here. If she saw me for a moment, then I'm willing to bet I would become a Knight, just like Brian. I know for sure about it. But if she wants to hunt me, then it will hurt Brian, and then Pet. And neither of us want to hurt or abandon Brian" Aisha fell silent for a moment, contemplating.

"So you're trapped as well" Missy said, looking at Aisha sorrowfully.

"Yeah. Nice talking with you. Though a word of warning; Queen can sense the emotions of her hosts, and anyone around her real body. Dunno how well she can, and it might be limited to sight like her other powers. She seems to have a massive bunch of bullshit powers really. Anyway, I need to split. Been here too long anyway. Don't want them to come after me because I appeared on the cameras after all. Nice talking to someone about this shit, for once" Aisha said, nodding.

"Nice talking to..." Missy wondered why she was sitting up, and why she felt a lot better.

Also, why did she seem to know a lot more about Queen's operations, as well? Oh well, best get some sleep. Apparently Queen planned to use her as a host often.

* * *

Hmmm, a lot more about Queen's operations revealed. It also points to some of her reasons for doing this. And yes, that is indeed Imp. And Brian is dating Pet, and previously was dating Sophia, who was well aware he was Grue.


End file.
